bayonet charge

Question 1

stanza 1:
“suddenly he awoke and was running-___”

Answer 1

• “raw”
• in medias res to create a dramatic opening
• “suddenly he awoke”, metaphor for how war is similar to an unnatural awakening
• repetition of “raw”, demonstrates how painful war is

Question 2

stanza 1:
“raw-seamed hot ____, his sweat heavy”

Answer 2

• “khaki”
• “khaki” a material on his clothing which is meant to be for protection is making him feel hot
• things that are supposed to be protecting him are working against him as a product of war
• “sweat heavy”, he is so desperate to escape this conflict that the weight of his sweat is slowing him down

Question 3

stanza 1:
“bullets smacking the belly out of the air”

Answer 3

• sentence does not make a lot of sense, shows the disco-ordinated thoughts of the soldiers
• personification of the air having a belly
• comedic language, represents the relief and amusement of the soldiers not being killed by these bullets

Question 4

stanza 1:
“he lugged a rifle numb as a ______ ___”

Answer 4

• “smashed arm”
• “lugged…numb”, slow sounding words, conveys the urgency the soldier has in his mind compared to the slowness of which he is moving
• “as numb as a smashed arm”, simile, describes how the rifle is similar to a broken limb which is slowing him down

Question 5

stanza 2:
“..what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations..”

Answer 5

• rhetoric, shows how he wishes to make a political question to the reader
• “clockwork of the stars”, represents fate
• when coupled with “cold”, it shows there is an unfeeling fate that does not care about the suffering of the soldiers
• “nations”, represents the politicians who contribute to that unfeeling fate

Question 6

describe the structure in bayonet charge

Answer 6

there is no real rhythm or pattern in the poem to represent the soldiers disco-ordinated run, he is unable to escape this war

Question 7

stanza 3:
“a yellow hare that rolled like a flame and crawled in a threshing circle”

Answer 7

• the hare is moving slowly and exposing itself to danger, “crawled… threshing circle”, the hare is symbolic of the soldiers
• hares move quickly, which deliberately contrasts the speed that the soldier needs to move and the speed of which he is actually moving

Question 8

stanza 3:
“king, honour, human dignity, etcetera”

Answer 8

• “etcetera”, these points which are considered important by many people aren’t
• the soldier is listing the reasons that people go to war, this followed by “etcetera”, show how these reasons are ridiculous